Vermont Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI)

The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program offered over $3.1 million in grants to Vermont businesses and organizations to strengthen local and regional food systems. Funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service RFSI program, the grants aim to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, support market development and new market opportunities for Vermont farms and food businesses, promote development of Vermont value-added products, and support fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities. Grants improved the aggregation, distribution, manufacturing, processing, storing, transporting, and wholesaling of Vermont food products including specialty crops, dairy, grains, aquaculture, and value-added products.

There were two grant tracks: an infrastructure grant track (approximately $2,000,000; grants of $100,000-$500,000; 50% total project match, reduced to 25% for historically underserved farmers and ranchers) and an equipment-only grant track (approximately $1,000,000; grants of $30,000-$100,000; no match). Businesses could receive only one RFSI grant.

Farmers, food aggregators and distributors, food hubs, food processors and manufacturers, food retail operations, institutions such as schools or hospitals, nonprofit organizations, producer associations and cooperatives, local government entities, and universities were eligible to apply. Projects to support meat or poultry were excluded per USDA stipulations, and projects exclusive to farming or farm production were not eligible; on-farm processing or value-added projects were eligible, as they fall within the middle of the supply chain.

Infrastructure track: grants of $100,000-$500,000 with a 50% total project match (reduced to 25% for historically underserved farmers and ranchers); projects run from fall 2024 through February 2027. Equipment-only track: grants of $30,000-$100,000 with no match requirement, for special-purpose equipment with an acquisition cost of at least $5,000 per unit. Businesses could receive only one RFSI grant.

Applications were submitted through the Agency's WebGrants system. The infrastructure grant track application ran May 1 - June 5, 2024, and the equipment-only track ran from late August 2024 through October 1, 2024. Both tracks are closed; awards were announced May 5, 2025. Contact: Julia Scheier, Julia.Scheier@vermont.gov, 802-522-7042.